New and Updated Features for the 2009 Circle of Wealth^® System:

One of the many benefits to attending COW College in January is to be the first to see and use the latest upgrades to the Circle of Wealth^® System. Based on the excitement and feedback from this year’s attendees – our development efforts did not disappoint. The 2009 version has now been released to all “current” system owners. Please use the “Check for updates” feature located in the MoneyTrax folder under Start>All Programs to get the new 2009 version of the system.

The two modules that received the bulk of the upgrades for 2009 are Spending Game and ToolBox. However, all of the modules benefited from continuous improvement efforts throughout the year. Some of the most notable improvements you will see in the 2009 edition of our software include:

Major Updates:

• New SG Model View: The ability to visually express the effects of financial decisions within the scenario from both a cash flow and net worth viewpoint. The model view also includes the ability to display a side-by-side comparison between two scenarios as well as calculate and display the difference between 22 unique summary values. Model view also provides an optional chart to facilitate a conversation regarding protection and loss mitigation.
  
• The ability to paste-in term premiums whenever they are used as input.
  
  
• A new History of Major Market Indexes tool in the ToolBox and Spending Game which not only allows you to view and elaborate on the historical returns from five different indexes, but also allows you to copy those returns to the Windows clipboard for use in other programs.
  
  
• A new “Accumulating Tax Deferred vs. Taxable” presentation can be found in ToolBox that allows one to compare accumulation results from the two account types. This tool allows for the consideration of penalties and fees for early withdrawal, so it is ideally suited for conversations involving accumulation using annuities.
  
  
• The S&P Total Return (and other Historical Return tools) in ToolBox now allow you to print the worksheet data to the printer or to a file.
  
  
• New SG Naming Convention: The components that make up a case are now called “Accounts” (previously they were all called assets.) This new naming convention removes ambiguity and confusion between traditional accounting usages of the term asset. In fact, Spending Game now uses the terms “Asset”, “Liability” and “Expense” to refer to “Accounts” within the Spending Game model. As an example, a taxable investment account (Type 1) is referred to as an asset, while an installment loan account (Type 12) is referred to as a liability account.
  
  
• New SG Account Types: Spending Game now includes a Type 12: Installment Loan and Type 13: Revolving Credit account type. These accounts are ideally suited to model car loans and credit card debt.
  
  
• Modified Type 10 Account Type: Type 10 accounts now reflect a straight “Cash Flow Expense” instead of its previous “balance + opportunity cost” behavior. This change makes this account type more mathematically appropriate in the model and summaries.
  
  
• New SG EPI Model Designations: Accounts can now be assigned to a model classification based on whether the account Erodes, Protects, or Increases the user’s circle of wealth.
  
  
• Updated SG Menu Structure: The Spending Game main menu has been realigned to make it easier to access frequently used features. Most notably, the old “View” menu has been replaced by “Account” and “Summary” menus.
  
  
• New SG Summary Columns: We added “Lost Opportunity Costs” (cumulative), “Annual Increase in L.O.C”, “Annual Transferred Dollars” and “Cumulative Transferred Dollars” to all accounts.
  
  
• New SG Summary Views: We added “Net Cash Flow”, “Lost Opportunity Costs” and “Transferred Dollars” summary views. Additionally, the “Annual Summary for All Assets” has been greatly expanded.
  
  
• The Spending Game Account Wizard default account names are now specific to the account type. The list may be modified using Preferences->List Management.
  
  
• New SG Feature “Watch This Value”: This feature allows you to constantly monitor the value of a cell from any account or summary view. The watched value is displayed on the menu bar.
  
  
• Direct PLI Import Capability: Compatible XML based illustration data may be directly imported into Spending Game to populate PLI account values. (To use this feature, your provider’s illustration software must be able to output their illustration in a compatible xml format.)
  
  
• Spending Game now includes the ability to display a compliance disclosure on startup. This feature is activated via the Preferences->Other Preferences screen.
  
  
• New SG Report Manager: Spending Game now includes a report generation engine that allows a custom selection of multiple accounts, summaries and charts. It also features the ability to customize both the selected columns and which years to print. Last but not least, the Report Manager can directly generate its reports as Adobe Acrobat “PDF” files.
  
  
• New SG Historical Return Calculator: Spending Game now includes historical returns from five different indexes and provides the ability to directly paste selected historical values into appropriate columns. (As stated earlier, you may copy the annual returns to the Windows clipboard as well – for use outside of Spending Game.)
  
  
• Spending Game now stores the “workspace layout” with the case file. When you reopen the case, all account and summary views that were previously open will be displayed in their previous positions.

As you can see, we’ve faithfully been reinvesting your update and support subscription dollars to continually improve the functionality and effectiveness of the MoneyTrax toolset. Additionally, we’ve streamlined our customer support processes in an effort to provide same-call resolution of your technical or operational usage issues whenever possible.

We look forward to your suggestions for continued improvements throughout the year.